14 DAY TRIAL // Windows XP was launched on October 25, 2001 to become one of the most successful Windows versions in history, and believe it or not, it’s still being used today nearly 17 years after its debut.
And since it represented not only a major overhaul of Microsoft’s Windows operating system but also a critical product for the future of the company, the Redmond-based software giant invested millions of dollars in marketing, just to make sure everyone was aware of the features it included.
Part of this marketing push was a special slogan supposed to emphasize the performance of the new operating system coupled with the advanced capabilities it powered. “Prepare to fly” was the theme which Microsoft thought was the right choice for Windows XP, alongside a series of ads showing people soaring over fields, a reference to the Bliss wallpaper.
And while at some level the “Prepare to fly” slogan made sense, everything changed after the US terrorist attacks that took place on September 11, 2001, only a couple of months before the planned launch of Windows XP.
The software giant’s marketing team decided in early October, only a few days ahead of the debut of Microsoft’s new operating system, to replace “Prepare to fly” with “Yes, you can” in order to get rid of the inappropriate reference to airplanes following the terrorist attacks. But while the slogan was changed, Microsoft didn’t give up on the rest of the marketing blitz, despite fears that it could somehow generate a wave of criticism due to the 9/11 tragedy.
Microsoft, however, handled the Windows XP launch with maximum caution, and even considered canceling the New York launch. Company founder Bill Gates himself discussed with New York’s city mayor the possibility of scrapping the launch party, but eventually decided to hold it anyway.
“Yes, you can!”
The company invested millions of dollars in the Windows XP launch, and estimates pointed to a $150 million budget for a global marketing blitz, with popstar Madonna singing Ray of Light as the theme of the promotional campaign.
Microsoft worked together with partners to ensure that Windows XP becomes a successful product. The firms planned to invest as much as $1 billion in advertising and marketing, though the budget was later reduced, and Microsoft hosted launch parties in 62 regions of the world, with 11 million discs sent to stores and magazines to highlight the main capabilities of the operating system and to offer demos to customers who were interested in purchasing it.
Judging from where Windows XP is right now, all these efforts paid off for Microsoft. Support for Windows XP was pulled in April 2014, but despite the operating system no longer receiving updates and security patches, there still are millions of systems running it these days. Without updates, computers still on Windows XP become vulnerable to attacks, and in the case of agencies and state departments, this also puts customers’ data at risk.
According to NetMarketShare data, Windows XP was running on 4.36% of the desktop computers across the world in April 2018, no less than four years after Microsoft stopped shipping security updates for this particular OS version.
Furthermore, Microsoft has also launched not one, not two, but five different operating system versions after Windows XP, and right now Windows 7, 8.1, and Windows 10 are still getting security patches. This wasn’t enough to convince Windows XP users to upgrade, however, as many believe that this was the best Windows version so far and the lack of security updates isn’t a strong reason to move to a newer release.